Meeting Bluegrass Fiddle Virtuoso Michael Cleveland

Bluegrass Fiddler and 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellow Michael Cleveland talks about his life immersed in music

Virtuoso fiddler and 2022 National Heritage Fellow Michael Cleveland talks about his life in bluegrass—and it is a lifelong love affair. He was brought to bluegrass shows as an infant and began performing on stage when he was about seven years. Known for the speed, intensity, and artistry of his playing, Cleveland is one of the great fiddler players of his generation, recognized 12 times as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (INBA)“Fiddler of the Year” and inducted into the National Fiddler’s Hall of Fame. Cleveland was a child he came to the attention of musicians like Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, and Allison Krause (who brought him to the Grand Ole Opry to play with her band when he was 13). In this podcast, Michael talks about going to the Kentucky School for the Blind when he was four years old – a school with a rich music program that frowned on bluegrass. He learned classical violin during the week and bluegrass when he came home on weekends. We discuss Southern Indiana’s rich history in bluegrass,  how the music itself is rooted in community where jams are the real places of learning the music, and the accessibility of bluegrass performers to their audiences.  Michael recalls starting his professional career which began by playing with Dale Ann Bradley and Rhonda Vincent, his branching out to solo work, and beginning his own band, Flamekeeper (named Instrumental Group of the Year by INBA seven times.) We also discuss his many collaborations with musicians like Bela Fleck, Tommy Emmanuel, and Heritage Fellows Del McCoury, Andy Statman and Jerry Douglas as well as his Grammy Award for Tall Fiddler.  We’d love to know your thoughts--email us at  artworkspod@arts.gov.